Santa comes to town

DEBORGIA – T’was two weeks before Christmas and DeBorgia began holiday festivities, even the smallest baby gave no cries. Then from outside came a siren’s wail to break the silence of the snow, and everyone ran outside to see what there was to know. Then the wondrous eyes saw where upon a fire truck he sat, Santa Claus with his bright red coat and hat.

Thursday evening, the town of DeBorgia held the fourth annual community Christmas party for a night full of song, merriment and holiday cheer. According to John DuBois, one of the event’s organizers, approximately 50 people came to the event with approximately a dozen kids of various ages among them.

“The 50 that were there tonight were a very good, workable number,” said DuBois. “No one was bumping into each other.”

The evening began with a fire out front of the Old DeBorgia Schoolhouse, where people kept warm and kids toasted marshmallows. As a larger group gathered, DuBois said a few words to welcome everyone. After the speech, the group sang Christmas carols around the fire – as the group sang, Christmas lights on the Old Schoolhouse were lit up.

Shortly after the lights came up, the group moved inside to enjoy the rest of the evening. Here, the group was able to enjoy refreshments as more carols were sung, accompanied by Derek Larson, music teacher for the St. Regis schools, on piano and lead by his wife Shelly Larson.

“We’re very happy that Derek and Shelly Larson showed up,” said DuBois. “They did a great job leading the songs.”

Suddenly, the songs were interrupted by a siren blast from a fire engine lit up by a giant spotlight outside. DuBois, giddy as a kid himself, urged the kids to come outside to see what had happened.

As the kids stepped outside, each face was a mask of shock as recognition hit them as to the identity of the special visitor. Santa Claus sat atop the fire engine as he called out and waved to the kids. Many of the kids quickly recovered from the surprise and, as though he had just been discovered, began to point Santa out to the others, both inside and outside.

However, as soon as Santa came down and approached, some of the kids quickly became shy. Some were intimidated into silence as Santa spoke to them and only answered after encouragement and prods from parents. DuBois also said he was a little surprised by the age of some of the kids who talked with Santa.

“A lot of them didn’t really believe but they went up and talked to him,” said DuBois. “It’s a wonderful time, a magical time.”

Most of the rest of the evening was a social time to eat cookies and talk with neighbors. Snacks for the evening consisted of a selection of cookies as well as hot apple cider and hot cocoa. These were provided by the Happy Homemakers of DeBorgia.

Santa also held court in a big chair near a Christmas tree to hear what kids wanted for Christmas. After the event, DuBois recalled how, despite some adults’ questions, Santa kept everything the kids told him private. He said Santa took his job for the evening seriously, both as a confidant for wishes and to present gifts. On this particular evening, Santa gave every kid he spoke to a bag with a candy cane in it.

While there was a good turnout, the group had hoped for a bigger crowd from more of the county. The hope was for the event to draw people from all over the county. However, DuBois said the majority of the attendees were from the DeBorgia area.

DuBois felt there might have been greater numbers, from more parts of the county, had some of the plans gone differently. The organizers reached out in search of other entertainment, such as choirs and bands, but were unable to secure any more performers.

However, DuBois felt the event was a success. This was especially good as it meant the year’s event season ended on a high note for DeBorgia.

This was the final event of the year for the DeBorgia community. According to DuBois, the group had a good year for events. The foundation experimented with some new ideas and learned a lot from the experiences.

“Some worked, some did not,” said DuBois. “But we learn with each event and we have new events…already planned for the coming year.”

This was the fourth year the town of DeBorgia has held this event. DuBois did not expect it would be the last.

“We’re certainly going to have a fifth. You almost have to have it – now that we’ve done it people are beginning to expect it,” said DuBois.